The Loom Of Language

How to Learn the Basic Word List 245

guesea and French equivalents of classical Latin words beginning with
ST? SQ SP3 SQ3 SL5 appropriate a vowel, e g Latin spzntu> Spanish
espintUy Portuguese espinto, French espnt9 or Latin scnlere (to write),
Spanish escrihr^ Portuguese escrever> French ecnre. This e- turns up in
Latin inscriptions of the second century A D , and was once part of the
spoken language of the Empire It dropped out in Italian, e g spinto or
scnvere In English words derived fiom French or Latin this initial e
is absent There are a few exceptions^ eg estate, esquire., espouse,
especially The following list illustrates the contrast and also shows a
French peculiarity explained in the next paragiaph

ENGLISH
FRENCH
SPANISH
ENGLISH
FRENCH
SPANISH

scald
echauffer
escaldar
spine
£pme
espina

scarlet
£carlate
escarlata
sponge
eponge
esponja

school
6cole
escuela
spouse
6poux
esposo

scnpture
Venture
escntura
stamp
£tampe
estampa

scum
ecume
espuma
standard
Standard
estandarte

slave
esclave
esclavo
state
etat
estado

sluice
ecluse
esclusa
stanch
6tancher
estancar

space
espace
espacio
stomach
estomac
estomage

spade
6p6e
espada
strange
etrange
estrano

Spain
Espagne
Espafia
study
^tudier
estudiar

spice
6pice
especia
stuff
etoffe
estofa

We have now looked at what was happening to Latin dialects simul-
taneouslym different partsof the disintegrated empire during the fouror
so centuries after the fall of Rome We shall now look at more local
changes From this viewpoint French stands most apart from its sister
languages We have already met (p. 225) one peculiarity of French.

ITALIAN
SPANISH
PORTUGUESE
MIDDLE FRENCH
MODLRN FRENCH
ENGLISH

bastardo
bastard
BATARD
bastard

bestia
besta
beste
BETE
beast

chiostro
claustro
cloistre
CLOffRE
cloitfer

costa
coste
COlE
coasr

costare
costar
custar
couster
COUTER
(to) cost

festa
fiesta
festa
feste
F£TB
feast

isola
isla
ilha
isle
iLE
vie

ostnca
ostra
oistre
IIUlTRE
oyster